Rayne's
classic "five-and-dime" sports two murals, including this
ad for Hoyt's German Cologne -- promoted by a toad! Claire Lacroix
from the Rayne Beautification Board actually met her future husband
while painting this one with artist Pat Brignac. [Click
for a larger image.]

[Where
is Rayne?]

"We are in the heart
of Acadia. The Acadians were run out of Nova Scotia and a lot of them
went to Louisiana, so we have a heavy French heritage down here. You
know my last name is Petitjean; that's as French as it gets. There are
also people named Commeaux, Beudreaux, Tibadeaux, all those "eaux" endings.
A vast majority of our elderly can speak French fluently -- the Cajun
French, not the European French."

[Why
is Rayne the Frog Capital of the World?]

"We got the
moniker because of Jacques and Raymond Weill. These brothers started
a frog export business in Rayne. They took frogs out of the agricultural
fields and shipped them throughout the United States, which put
Rayne on the map."

This
copy of an old advertisement for throat lozenges is one of several
painted by local artist Pat Brignac. [Click
for a larger image.]

Another
commissioned mural, this quintet of tree frogs was painted by artist
Robert Dafford. [Click for a larger
image.]